EXPOSING IDOLS....Sexual Idolatry
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LAST WEEK WE TALKED ABOUT...
WHAT MAKES SOMETHING AN IDOL?
WE DEFINED AN IDOL AS BEING....
SOMETHING OR SOMEONE THAT BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT TO US THAN GOD
BY THIS DEFINITION
WE KNOW THAT GOOD THINGS CAN BECOME IDOLS
WHEN THEY BECOME THE ULTIMATE THING IN OUR LIFE
I QUOTED A PASSAGE IN “COUNTERFEIT GODS” BY TIM KELLER
AND I THINK HE DEFINES IT THE BEST
I WANT TO MAKE THIS DEFINITION A PART OF THIS SERIES
“AN IDOL IS ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN GOD, ANYTHING THAT ABSORBS YOUR HEART AND IMAGINATION MORE THAN GOD, AND ANYTHING THAT YOU SEEK TO GIVE YOURSELF WHAT ONLY GOD CAN GIVE.”
I WOULD ADD THAT NOT ONLY CAN IT BE A THING THAT CONSUMES YOU, BUT A PERSON AS WELL.
THIS MORNING I WANT TO EXPOSE AN IDOL THAT I BELIEVE HAS WRECKED...
LIVES
MARRIAGES
FAMILIES
CHURCHES
MINISTERS
AND IN MY OPINION, IT IS CURRENTLY THE MOST PERVERTED THING THAT WAS MEANT TO BE SOMETHING GOOD…SOMETHING GREAT!
SEX
I’M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT THE ACT THIS MORNING
I’M TALKING ABOUT OUR
SEXUAL DESIRES
OUR SEXUAL FEELINGS
EVERYTHING THAT CAN BE SEXUALLY IMMORAL AND PERVERSE
SEX IS SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF CHURCHES DON’T TALK ABOUT
AND BECAUSE OF THIS I BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE PLAYED A PART
IN ALLOWING THE WORLD TO PERVERT WHAT GOD HAS CREATED AS A GIFT
OH COME ON....
I’M TALKING ABOUT CHRISTIANS FAILING TO.....
TAKE A STANCE AGAINST WHAT IS IMMORAL AND PERVERSE
I’M TALKING ABOUT CHRISTIANS WHO FAIL TO TALK TO THEIR KIDS ABOUT SEX
AND THEREFORE LEAVING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM TO TEACH THEM INSTEAD
MANY OF US GREW UP IN A TIME WHEN SEX WAS A SECRET THING ONLY TO BE DISCUSSED IN PRIVACY
WE WERE AFRAID OF HOW THE DEVIL MAY USE IT TO FILL OUR KIDS MINDS WITH SEXUAL THOUGHTS
HOW SOMETHING THAT IS SO SACRED MIGHT BE PERVERTED IF WE TALK ABOUT IT
AFTER ALL GOD IS RIGHTEOUS AND GOD IS HOLY
AND IF WE TALK ABOUT SEX IN CHURCH
WE WOULD BE CONFORMING TO THE WORLD BY PUBLICIZING IT
OH COME ON SOMEBODY....
AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO GREW UP THIS WAY???
CHURCH I HAVE SOME TERRIBLE NEWS...
WE DIDN’T TALK ABOUT IT
WE DIDN’T TEACH ON IT
AND NOW THE WORLD HAS PERVERTED IT
NOW OURSELVES AND OUR KIDS ARE SO BOMBARDED BY IT THAT...
MOST PEOPLE AND EVEN CHRISTIANS
DON’T KNOW WHAT TO THINK ABOUT IT
THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT IT
THE WORLD HAS SO INDOCTRINATED OUR MINDS ABOUT THE GIFT OF SEX THAT CAME FROM GOD...
THAT WE STRUGGLE TO THINK PURE ABOUT IT
UNDERSTAND THIS....
I’M NOT SAYING IT’S ALL OUR FAULT
THE ENEMY HAS AN AGENDA
ALWAYS HAS
HE KNOWS WHAT EVIL DESIRES LURK INSIDE OF HUMAN BEINGS
HE KNOW THE SEXUAL DESIRES THAT GOD CREATED IN US
THEREFORE, HE TAKES SOMETHING GOOD AND HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS
AND HE PERVERTS IT....FOR OUR PLEASURE
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
ONE OF THIS BIGGEST PROBLEMS WITH PEOPLE INCLUDING CHRISTIANS IS...
WE SUPPRESS GOD’S TRUTH SO THAT WE CAN LIVE HOW WE WANT TO
OUR WAY!
OH COME ON....YOU KNOW THIS IS TRUE
WE KNOW THE TRUTH AND WILL HAVE TO ENDURE THE CONSEQUENCES OF IGNORING THE TRUTH
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
HOW COULD ANYONE INTELLIGENT TURN TO IDOLATRY?
IDOLATRY BEGINS WHEN WE REJECT WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT GOD
AND INSTEAD OF LOOKING TO HIM AS THE CREATOR AND SUSTAINER OF LIFE
WE SEE OURSELVES AS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE
SO WE INVENT GODS THAT ARE CONVENIENT
THINGS THAT HELP US OBTAIN OUR OWN SELFISH PLANS AND GOALS
IT SAID,
THAT THEY CREATED IDOLS IN PLACE OF GOD
AND LETS SEE WHAT HAPPENS
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
ONCE AGAIN THEY EXCHANGED THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD FOR A LIE......
THEY CREATED IDOLS TO WORSHIP AND SERVE
SO WATCH THIS....
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
WOW, DOESN’T THIS SEEM EERILY FAMILIAR?
CHURCH THIS IS WHAT WE’RE SEEING IN THE WORLD TODAY
YES,
THE WORLD HAS FOR ALONG TIME NOW, BEEN POLLUTED AND EVIL
BUT WHAT WE’RE SEEING TODAY IS RESEMBLANCE OF THE DAYS OF NOAH AND
SODOM AND GOMORRAH
WHAT WE’RE SEEING IS A REPEAT OF SEXUAL IMMORALITY
LIKE WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE
I WANT TO COME BACK TO FINISH THE REST OF THIS PASSAGE BUT FIRST...
I WANT US TO LOOK AT ANOTHER SCRIPTURE
26 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 27 In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
SO JUST AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH....THINK ABOUT IT.....
PEOPLE GOING ABOUT LIFE AS NORMAL
NOT WORRYING ABOUT ANYTHING BUT THEMSELVES
JUST AS IN THE DAYS OF LOT (SODOM AND GOMORRAH)
I MEAN SODOM AND GOMORRAH WAS AN EVIL AND WICKED PLACE
SEXUAL IMMORALITY, SEXUAL IMPURITY, SHAMEFUL LUSTS
THIS WAS NORMAL LIFE TO THEM
THEY HAD NORMALIZED SEXUAL IMMORAL BEHAVIOR
THEY HAD BECOME DESENSITIZED TO SEXUAL SIN
WHEN I LOOK AT THE WORLD TODAY...
I CAN SEE THAT WE ARE QUICKLY BECOMING AS SODOM AND GOMORRAH WAS
THE SEXUAL IMMORALITY
THE ACCEPTANCE OF SEXUAL SIN AMONG SO CALLED CHRISTIANS
WE CAN SEE THAT THIS IS A HUGE ISSUE IN THE CHURCH
SOMETHING IS GOING ON IN THE CHURCH BODY REGARDING THIS ISSUE
WE CAN SEE MANY CHRISTIAN ARTIST
CHRISTIAN MINISTERS OF MEGA CHURCHES
NOT TAKING A STAND AGAINST SEXUAL SIN
INSTEAD THEY SWEEP IT UNDER THE RUG OR....
THEY BEAT AROUND THE BUSH TO SPARE PEOPLE OF BEING OFFENDED
LETS FINISH ROMANS...
Romans 1:28–32 (NIV)
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind (MORALLY CORRUPT, WICKED), so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent(SHOWING A RUDE AND ARROGANT LACK OF RESPECT), arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity (FAITHFULNESS TO A PERSON), no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
WOW....
APPROVE OF THOSE WHO PRACTICE THEM
CHURCH LET ME BE CLEAR THIS MORNING....
IF YOUR GOING TO BE A FOLLOWER OF JESUS CHRIST
YOU CAN NOT APPROVE OR SUPPORT SIN
YOU MUST TAKE A STANCE AGAINST SIN AT ALL COSTS
WE WILL ALL STAND BEFORE GOD
WE WILL ALL GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF OUR LIVES AND OUR CHOICES
OUR SEXUAL DESIRES...
CAN EASILY BECOME AN IDOL THAT WE WORSHIP
I ASKED A QUESTION LAST WEEK....
WHAT CONSUMES YOUR THOUGHTS?
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ALL THE TIME?
FOR MANY WHO ARE SITTING IN THIS ROOM...
SEX HAS BECOME YOUR GOD
PORNOGRAPHY IS A HUGE PROBLEM IN THE CHURCH TODAY.....WHY?
IT’S SO EASILY AND SECRETIVELY AVAILABLE
SOME HAVE BECOME SLAVES TO THE SEXUAL SIN OF PORNOGRAPHY
NO, THAT’S NOT ME...
I DON’T LOOK AT THAT....
OK......BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT OTHER PEOPLE WITH LUST
WE ARE SEXUALLY IDOLIZING THAT PERSON
THE LOOK DON’T TOUCH POLICY
IT’S NOT OK
IT’S NOT PURE
IT’S SIN
AND IT LEADS TO YOU “NEEDING” TO FULFILL YOUR SEXUAL DESIRES
EVENTUALLY
JESUS SAID...
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
MARRIED COUPLES....
SWINGING IS A SIN
THE WORLD WILL TELL YOU THAT SWAPPING SPOUSES IS OK AND HEALTHY
THERE IS A REALITY TV SHOW CALLED
LOVE FOR THE AGES
IT’S A TV SHOW OF MARRIED COUPLES THAT HAVE THEIR MARRIAGE PUT TO THE TEST
THE HOST SAY...
YOU GUYS ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO GET THE ULTIMATE HALL PASS TO EXPLORE WHAT LIFE WOULD BE LIKE WITH SOMEONE OTHER THAN YOUR SPOUSE.
ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THAT THE COUPLES DO IS.....REMOVE THEIR WEDDING RINGS
CHURCH THIS IS NOT OK.
OH PASTOR BUT...
IT’S MUTUAL SO IT MUST BE OK......
NO, THIS IS WRONG
THIS IS SIN
IT’S DISGUSTING IN THE EYES OF GOD
9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN
TRANSGENDER-ISM IS A SIN
YOU ARE WHO GOD CREATED YOU TO BE
THE FACT THAT YOU FEEL DIFFERENT THAN THAT
IS BECAUSE OF OUR SINFUL NATURE
TO DO WHAT IS UNNATURAL, IMMORAL AND SELF-GRATIFYING
I UNDERSTAND THERE IS A MENTAL DISORDER CALLED
GENDER DYSPHORIA
I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THOSE THINGS THIS MORNING
WE’RE TALKING ABOUT SEXUAL IMMORALITY AND SEXUAL IMPURITY
SEXUAL IDOLATRY
CHURCH WE ARE LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS.....
THE WORLD IS SEXUALLY DESENSITIZING US
THE MORE SEXUALLY IMMORAL THE WORLD BECOMES
THE MORE DIRTY AND PERVERTED PEOPLE WILL BECOME
OH COME ON SOMEBODY...
THE MORE YOU LOOK AT PORNOGRAPHY
THE MORE DIRTY AND PERVERTED THINGS WILL HAVE TO GET TO BRING YOU PLEASURE
I’M TALKING TO SOMEBODY THIS MORNING....
IF YOU DON’T GET DELIVERANCE OVER THIS SIN
IT WILL DESTROY YOUR MARRIAGE
IT WILL CAUSE THE GIFT THAT GOD GAVE YOU FOR YOU AND YOUR SPOUSE TO BECOME.....MEANINGLESS
AND YOU WILL BECOME UNABLE TO BE PLEASURED BY YOUR SPOUSE
IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY....
GOD CAN BRING HEALING AND RESTORATION
HE CAN HELP YOU OVERCOME THIS
YES IT WILL REQUIRE SOME WORK AND SACRIFICE ON YOUR END
BUT HE CAN SET YOU FREE
THE BIBLE SAID....
“THEY INVENT WAYS OF DOING EVIL”
THIS TELLS US THAT WE HAVE A REBELLIOUS SINFUL NATURE THAT IF YIELDED TO...
WILL ULTIMATELY BRING DESTRUCTION
.........WORSHIP TEAM COME........
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
WELL PASTOR CHRIS....
I JUST DON’T AGREE THAT AS CHRISTIANS WE SHOULD STAND AGAINST PEOPLE
AS CHRISTIANS WE SHOULD LOVE AND BE ACCEPTING OF ALL PEOPLE
I MEAN JESUS SAID COME AS YOU ARE, RIGHT?
NO, THE BIBLE NEVER SAYS TO COME AS YOU ARE....
THERE ARE SEVERAL SCRIPTURES THAT SAY TO COME TO HIM…REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOUR FACING
REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU FEEL
BUT THE BIBLE NEVER SAYS...
COME AS YOU ARE
THEREFORE THIS CAN NOT BE AN ARGUMENT FOR ACCEPTING AND SUPPORTING SIN
HE SAID....
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
WE SHOULD COME AS WE ARE TO CHRIST BUT....
WITH A HEART OF REPENTANCE
SEEKING HIS WILL FOR OUR LIVES
NOT JUST SEEKING PEACE AND COMFORT IN OUR SIN
BUT SEEKING GOD TO TRANSFORM OUR MINDS INTO WHAT HE WILLS FOR US
OH MY LORD…HELP US
SO YES, COME AS YOU ARE
AND IF YOU TRULY SURRENDER TO HIM
YOU WILL LEAVE CHANGED
SET FREE
EXPOSING IDOLS....
BAAL WAS THE GOD OF FUTILITY WE READ ABOUT IN THE BIBLE
Baal being a fertility god had worship that was filled with perversion, homosexuality, immorality and sexual promiscuity.
I BELIEVE THAT THE DEMONIC SPIRIT OF BAAL IS STILL ALIVE IN AMERICA TODAY
.........STAND TO YOUR FEET............
YOU KNOW WHAT WE NEED....
MORE CHRISTIANS LIKE ELIJAH
YOU SEE ELIJAH WAS WILLING TO DO WHAT GOD ASKED
HE TOOK A STANCE AGAINST THE SEXUAL IMMORALITY THAT WAS GOING ON
HE TOOK A STANCE AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF BAAL
YES......
WE NEED TO LOVE PEOPLE
BUT WE CAN NOT BE TOLERANT
SUPPORTIVE
OR ACCEPTING OF THEIR SIN
THE SEXUAL SIN THAT THE WORLD IS TRYING TO NORMALIZE
WE HAVE TO STAND AGAINST IT
IN 1 KINGS 18.
ELIJAH ASKED THE PEOPLE.....
HOW LONG ARE GONNA WAVER BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS
HE’S TELLING THEM THAT THEY NEEDED TO CHOOSE
WHO THEY WERE GONNA SERVE
CHURCH I’M TELLING TODAY...
YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE
YOU CAN’T SERVE TWO MASTER
YOU GOTTA LOVE ONE AND HATE THE OTHER.
NOT HATE THE PERSON COMMITTING THE SIN
HATE THE SIN AND DEVIL THAT HAS A HOLD OF THE PERSON
AS THE WORSHIP TEAM PLAYS
THESE ALTARS ARE OPEN....
AND IF YOU NEED PRAYER OVER SOME THINGS YOU’VE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH
COME AND LET US PRAY WITH YOU